Cozumel recommendations please

[Christi]

Fiesta Americana is the best cleaniest and nicest ALL INCLUSIVE imho. You can beach dive with the folks from DIVE HOUSE and the boats pick you up to take you to PLAYACAR REEF. Iberostar ALLEGRO has the nicest beach, but food and service isn't as nice as Fiesta Americana. FA just finished a major renovation a month ago, closed for a year. Nightly entertainment at the beach with dinner was nice, lots of pools, bars, swim up bar in case diving is closed down on the reefs. Beach entry is tricky but to refresh your diving by yourself and get your water wings going the place is perfect with lots of corals, fishes. I stepped up onto the dock still in my rig and server came up to me and offered me a fish taco and cold bottle of water. Swapped out my tank and did it again.

Capt Mike - not trying to pick your post apart, but need to clarify some things so that there is no misinformation and confusion.

Fiesta Americana has been closed for almost a year - under construction - reopening date still TBD - I would not book anything there until it is in fact re-opened. So I am not sure where you got your information that i opened again a month ago - but it is nowhere near re-opening yet. If it were my guess, I would say another 2 - 3 months at the earliest.

Playacar is on the mainland (Playa del Carmen) - I think you are actually referring to Palancar Reef. ALL dive ops dive this reef (there are several sections to it Palancar Gardens, Horseshoe, Bricks, Caves)and there are numerous other fantastic dives as well.

Ibersotar and the Allegro are two completely different resorts. The Iberostar is the Iberostar and Allegro is the Occidental Allegro - in between the Iberostar and Allegro is the Occidental Grand - 3 different resorts.

Just some clarifications to avoid some major confusion for a newcomer.

To the original poster = there is a dive shop here to meet everyone's preferences and desires. Asking which one is the "best" is an impossible question to answer. Not only is it highly subjective, but unless someone has dove with every shop, for multiple days under the same conditions - there is no possible way for anyone to answer that HONESTLY. There are many cheerleaders for various operations, mine included. But even I don't claim or have I ever expected or asked to be "the best." There is no ONE best shop - the key is finding the best operation for YOU based on your needs and preferences.

I recommend staying away from the all-inclusive resorts and stay as close as you can to downtown. The further south you stay, the more limited your dive site options despite the "experts" that think staying south means you're closest to the "best" sites - yes, you're closer to Palancar - but there are many other sites you will miss if staying too far south (ie: Allegro, Occidental Grand, Iberostar).

Stay closer to town and enjoy the flavor of the island

Good luck and have a wonderful trip.

 

[Mossman]

Yeah, what Christi said. Though if you do decide to stay at an all-inclusive, I recommend Cozumel Palace in town and Secrets Aura to the south. You'll find them both to be even more "best cleaniest and nicest" than Fiesta Americana, or so I'm told.

Honestly, I've never tried Fiesta Americana because I heard it was a dump filled with obnoxious drunks :blinking:

That said, they are rebuilding into something supposedly better than before (the website still says 2014 BTW and promises nuevas experiencias), so maybe they'll start attracting more of us sophisticated drunks who otherwise stay at the Palace or Secrets.

 

[cvchief]

And never stay at the Iberostar....

 

[Skittl1321]

We stayed at a Southern resort (Sabor) for our first trip and in 11 dives, we went to 10 different sites (one we asked to repeat for day vs. night experience). Every site was amazing. Sometimes our DM would ask where we wanted to go, but most of the time no one said anything- because half the boat was new to Cozumel and didn't know the 'best' sites, and those who were repeat divers knew that they were all great!

Our next trip, we are hoping to stay in town, but the AI was incredibly convenient and the price was great. Personally, if I had to venture out to eat all my meals, I may not have eaten. The dive trip was incredibly exhausting. More than I imagined it being.

but there are many other sites you will miss if staying too far south

Don't you also have to ensure that no one else on your boat is going to be staying south? I guess this is a reason to dive with larger ops with many boats- but a lot of ops run just one boat.

 

[Mossman]

The dive trip was incredibly exhausting. More than I imagined it being.

That's what nitrox is for. And coffee.

Don't you also have to ensure that no one else on your boat is going to be staying south? I guess this is a reason to dive with larger ops with many boats- but a lot of ops run just one boat.

It's going to be a business decision with single-boat ops. If the majority of divers are staying in the south, no brainer. If only one diver is staying in the south, but there's a very good reason to dive the north (i.e. eagle rays) then the one diver might be asked to taxi to the caleta or else find him/herself a different boat for the day or for the trip. I've been lucky so far as a solo traveler on my last two trips staying in the south, but then it wasn't eagle ray season either. Next trip I'll probably stay in town. Lots of sites to the north I've never dove and I get sick of hearing about them!

 

[robint]

As the others have said.... it all depends WHAT you want to do when NOT diving.
It also depends WHO you are traveling with... if you are bringing your whole family, kids or non-divers, then an All-Inclusive may be BEST for you.
(Sorry everyone, but that is a fact. Nothing worse than a couple of teens who are hungry constantly or who don't have activities at their fingertips constantly).

Cozumel has tons of variety in hotels, dive ops, and activities. Telling someone to STAY here and DIVE with this dive op is not good unless you know their situation and needs.

 

[cvchief]

Except don't stay at Iberostar. The Grand is nice....

 

[DjDiverDan]

Except don't stay at Iberostar. The Grand is nice....

Hey Chief, why don't you tell us what you think of the Iberostar?

 

[mstevens]

I don't think the recommendation that divers not stay at the Iberostar is limited to cvchief...

 

[mikeycanuk]

We stayed at El Cantil and dived with Aldora. After visiting the Aldora villas on our last day and spent an hour chatting with everyone we had met with over the previous week....we regretted not booking the villas.


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